Supreme Court of the United States

Transcription

1 No IN THE Supreme Court of the United States LAURENCE STONE, Petitioner, v. BEAR, STEARNS & CO., INC.; J.P. MORGAN SECURITIES LLC; BEAR, STEARNS SECURITIES CORP.; AND BEAR STEARNS ASSET MANAGEMENT INC., Respondents. On Petition for a Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit REPLY BRIEF FOR PETITIONER EDWARD PEKAREK 216 East Dyke Street Wellsville, NY (585) April 29, 2014 DAVID C. FREDERICK BRENDAN J. CRIMMINS Counsel of Record KELLOGG, HUBER, HANSEN, TODD, EVANS & FIGEL, P.L.L.C M Street, N.W. Suite 400 Washington, D.C (202) (bcrimmins@khhte.com)

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page TABLE OF AUTHORITIES... ii ARGUMENT... 2 I. THIS COURT S REVIEW IS WAR- RANTED TO DETERMINE THE PROPER STANDARD FOR VACATING AN ARBITRATION AWARD BASED ON EVIDENT PARTIALITY UNDER THE FAA... 2 II. THE STANDARD FOR WAIVER OF AN EVIDENT PARTIALITY CHAL- LENGE WARRANTS THIS COURT S REVIEW... 9 CONCLUSION ADDENDUM... 1a

3 ii TABLE OF AUTHORITIES Page CASES ANR Coal Co. v. Cogentrix of North Carolina, Inc., 173 F.3d 493 (4th Cir. 1999)... 9 Apperson v. Fleet Carrier Corp., 879 F.2d 1344 (6th Cir. 1989)... 4 Applied Indus. Materials Corp. v. Ovalar Makine Ticaret Ve Sanayi, A.S., 492 F.3d 132 (2d Cir. 2007)... 9 Commonwealth Coatings Corp. v. Continental Cas. Co., 393 U.S. 145 (1968)... 1, 3, 4, 11, 12 Freeman v. Pittsburgh Glass Works, LLC, 709 F.3d 240 (3d Cir. 2013)... 5 Gonzalez v. Crosby, 545 U.S. 524 (2005) Holtz v. J.J.B. Hilliard W.L. Lyons, Inc., 185 F.3d 732 (7th Cir. 1999) Lagstein v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd s, London, 607 F.3d 634 (9th Cir. 2010)... 6, 7 Lucent Techs. Inc. v. Tatung Co., 379 F.3d 24 (2d Cir. 2004)... 9 Middlesex Mut. Ins. Co. v. Levine, 675 F.2d 1197 (11th Cir. 1982) Morelite Constr. Corp. v. New York City Dist. Council Carpenters Benefit Funds, 748 F.2d 79 (2d Cir. 1984)... 3, 9 New Regency Prods., Inc. v. Nippon Herald Films, Inc., 501 F.3d 1101 (9th Cir. 2007)... 3, 8 Remmey v. PaineWebber, Inc., 32 F.3d 143 (4th Cir. 1994)... 9

4 iii Schmitz v. Zilveti, 20 F.3d 1043 (9th Cir. 1994)... 3, 4 University Commons-Urbana, Ltd. v. Universal Constructors Inc., 304 F.3d 1331 (11th Cir. 2002) STATUTES Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. 1 et seq.... 1, 2, 8, 9, 10 10, 9 U.S.C , 10 10(a)(1), 9 U.S.C. 10(a)(1) (a)(2), 9 U.S.C. 10(a)(2)... 1, 9 OTHER MATERIALS 11 Resps. Br., Commonwealth Coatings Corp. v. Continental Cas. Co., 393 U.S. 145 (1968) (U.S. filed June 13, 1968) (No. 14)... 11

5 Respondents offer no good reason for continuing to tolerate persistent conflicts and confusion in the lower courts regarding the interpretation and application of 10(a)(2) of the Federal Arbitration Act ( FAA ) and this Court s decision in Commonwealth Coatings Corp. v. Continental Casualty Co., 393 U.S. 145 (1968). The courts of appeals are divided over both (i) the standard for determining when an arbitrator s undisclosed conflict of interest shows evident partiality, within the meaning of FAA 10, and (ii) the standard for determining when a party who lacked knowledge of, and thus did not object during the arbitration to, an arbitrator s undisclosed conflict has waived his evident-partiality challenge. Those issues are recurring, and they are significant, particularly in light of the substantial and growing role that arbitration plays as a means of resolving civil disputes in this country. See Investor Rights Clinic Br.; Prof. Alice L. Stewart et al. Br. On the first question presented, respondents admit that courts of appeals have announced different formulations of the governing legal standard, but they argue that the courts approaches are similar enough to produce consistent results. But the cases themselves, including the decision below, disprove that argument. Moreover, even if courts do sometimes manage to reach similar outcomes, that does not justify forcing lower courts to continue wrestling with conflicting case law that has bedeviled them for decades. On the second question presented, respondents quibble with petitioner s characterization of the law in a few circuits, but fail to undermine our showing of a circuit conflict. Respondents also attempt, unsuccessfully, to reconcile the waiver standard adopted by the courts below with Commonwealth Coatings.

6 2 ARGUMENT I. THIS COURT S REVIEW IS WARRANTED TO DETERMINE THE PROPER STANDARD FOR VACATING AN ARBITRATION AWARD BASED ON EVIDENT PARTIALITY UNDER THE FAA The courts of appeals are divided over the proper legal standard for determining when undisclosed arbitrator conflicts of interest constitute evident partiality under the FAA. Pet Courts and commentators, including the district court in this case, have acknowledged the conflicts and confusion in the lower federal courts. Pet , Even respondents acknowledge that the circuits have adopted different formulations of the governing test. E.g., Opp. 18 ( courts of appeals use a variety of formulations to articulate the evident partiality standard ). None of respondents arguments justifies permitting the lower courts to persist in using those varying standards to resolve similar cases. First, in an effort to obscure the conflicts and confusion in the courts of appeals, respondents pluck (at 14-19) quotations from opinions showing that courts on both sides of the split recite certain similar boilerplate phrases (e.g., nondisclosure alone does not require vacatur ). But it is often the case that opinions from different sides of a split have some common features in their analyses. Two courts of appeals may agree that statutory interpretation should begin with the text, but may reach different conclusions about the legal standard that text requires. When that happens, this Court frequently grants review, regardless of whether the lower courts used similar language in other parts of their opinions.

7 3 Here, when it comes to the language that matters the articulation of the governing standard for evaluating evident partiality the circuits are not in agreement. In the Ninth and Eleventh Circuits, the legal standard for evident partiality is whether there are facts showing a reasonable impression of partiality. New Regency Prods., Inc. v. Nippon Herald Films, Inc., 501 F.3d 1101, 1106 (9th Cir. 2007) (quoting Schmitz v. Zilveti, 20 F.3d 1043, 1048 (9th Cir. 1994)) (emphasis added); see Pet But, in the Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Circuits, an arbitration award must stand despite an arbitrator s failure to disclose facts creating a reasonable impression of partiality, unless a reasonable person would have to conclude that an arbitrator was partial to one party to the arbitration. Morelite Constr. Corp. v. New York City Dist. Council Carpenters Benefit Funds, 748 F.2d 79, 84 (2d Cir. 1984) (emphasis added); see Pet Respondents never directly confront, let alone attempt to reconcile, those conflicting approaches. The divergent standards stem directly from the circuits different readings of Commonwealth Coatings. The courts of appeals requiring proof that an arbitrator was partial to one party base that standard on Justice White s concurring opinion, which they consider to be Commonwealth Coatings holding. E.g., Morelite, 748 F.2d at 83 n.3. Those courts dismiss Justice Black s opinion for the Court as dicta. E.g., id. at 83. The courts of appeals applying the reasonableimpression-of-bias standard, by contrast, recognize that the majority approach results from a misunderstanding of Commonwealth Coatings. As the Ninth Circuit explained, Commonwealth Coatings is not a plurality opinion, and, [g]iven Justice White s

8 4 express adherence to the majority opinion, [r]easonable impression of partiality... is the best expression of the Commonwealth Coatings court s holding. Schmitz, 20 F.3d at 1045, Although respondents admit (at 13) that lower courts have debated whether Justice Black s opinion in Commonwealth Coatings actually reflects the opinion of the Court, or whether Justice White s opinion sets forth a narrower rule that controls, they fail to appreciate that the courts of appeals differing interpretations of Commonwealth Coatings have produced different standards for evident partiality. Second, respondents suggest (at 13, 20-21) that the lower courts have reached consistent outcomes, despite applying inconsistent legal standards. But the results produced by the different circuits approaches cannot be so easily harmonized. The Sixth Circuit has upheld an award under the actual-bias standard even though one of the arbitrators had been law partners with an attorney who had represented one of the parties, observing that the facts did not amount to outright chicanery. Apperson v. Fleet Carrier Corp., 879 F.2d 1344, (6th Cir. 1989) (internal quotations omitted). By contrast, the Ninth Circuit vacated an award under the reasonable impression of partiality standard because the arbitrator failed to disclose his law firm s former representation of a party s parent company. See Schmitz, 20 F.3d at In the circuits that apply the reasonable-impression standard, significant commercial ties to a party can show evident partiality, but, under the majority approach, evidence of such ties does not support vacatur unless the moving party also somehow proves that the arbitrator was actually partial to one side.

9 5 Contrary to respondents assertion (at 20-21), Mr. Stone s own case illustrates the real-world effects of the circuits differing standards. The district court here analyzed various approaches to the evidentpartiality issue at length, ultimately concluding that Third Circuit precedent required the actual-partiality standard. App. 17a-25a. The court nowhere stated that it would or could have reached the result that it did had it instead applied the reasonable-impression standard. See App. 25a ( Stone has failed to show circumstances so powerfully suggestive of bias that a reasonable person would have to believe that Marston was partial to Respondents. ), 28a ( Stone has not met his heavy burden of proving that a reasonable person would have to believe that Marston was partial to Respondents. ). Although the Third Circuit suggested that the concept of evident partiality could be further explored by that court, App. 3a, the panel that heard this appeal was bound by the Third Circuit s recent decision reaffirming the actualbias standard in Freeman v. Pittsburgh Glass Works, LLC, 709 F.3d 240 (3d Cir. 2013). Thus, the Third Circuit s statement that this case was not close (App. 3a) must be understood to mean not close under the actual-bias standard. Under the reasonable-impression standard, the facts of this case require vacatur. One of the supposedly neutral public arbitrators presiding over Mr. Stone s case had extensive financial and professional ties to the securities industry through her spouse, who serves as a paid consultant, adviser, and speaker for numerous securities firms, including respondent J.P. Morgan. Pet Those facts plainly create a reasonable impression of partiality. Indeed, in May 2009, during the pendency of this arbitration, Ms. Marston s spouse was paid $12,000

10 6 to serve as a keynote speaker for J.P. Morgan Chase Asset Management, an affiliate of respondents. Pet. 9, 13 n.4. Respondents incorrectly assert (at 6) that J.P. Morgan was only one of a list of firms sponsoring the talk. The deposition testimony they cite describes a different speech, delivered on a different date, in a different city (New York, rather than Chicago), for which Dr. Marston received compensation from a different financial-services firm. Compare C.A. App. 556a-557a and Add. 4a-5a 1 with C.A. App. 571a. Although the May 2009 J.P. Morgan speech was arranged through a speaking agency, App. 12a, the contract for that speech clearly identifies J.P. Morgan as the client, C.A. App. 571a. 2 Respondents also assert that [n]one of Dr. Marston s connections with the securities industry suggests that Arbitrator Marston had any financial or personal interest in the outcome of the arbitration. Opp. 20 (quoting Lagstein v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd s, London, 607 F.3d 634, 646 (9th Cir. 2010)) (internal quotations omitted). But Dr. Marston and Ms. Marston are married, meaning she certainly benefits financially from the substantial household income he derives from securities-industry clients. Ms. Marston therefore had a financial disincentive to render arbitration decisions that would displease the industry that compensates Dr. Marston. That is why FINRA s rules require arbitrators to disclose not only 1 The cited deposition testimony discusses an exhibit that was not filed with the district court. Because that exhibit helps to clarify certain references in the testimony, it is reproduced in an addendum to this brief. 2 That contract also required Dr. Marston to submit his expenses directly to the client that is, J.P. Morgan for reimbursement. C.A. App. 570a ( 7).

11 7 their own ties to the securities industry but also those of their family members. Pet Lagstein, which respondents cite (at 20), is not to the contrary; the asserted conflict there did not concern a spouse s financial interests. See 607 F.3d at (asserted conflict was two arbitrators prior involvement in an ethics controversy together). Third, respondents argue (at 23) that this case is a poor vehicle to resolve the first question presented because Ms. Marston supposedly tried to disclose her conflicts of interest but was allegedly thwarted by FINRA. But respondents rhetoric cannot be squared with the district court s finding that, [d]espite the fact that FINRA imposes an ongoing duty to disclose on its arbitrators, Marston did not clarify or supplement her ADR disclosures at any point throughout Stone s arbitration, even though she was given the opportunity to do so at the beginning of each hearing. App. 12a. Ms. Marston also attested on her post hoc oath of arbitrator form and conflict checklist for this case that she had no potential conflicts to disclose. Pet Ms. Marston knew (or certainly should have known) that her arbitrator disclosure report failed to reflect her household s close ties to securities firms and continually remained silent despite numerous opportunities to reveal the potential conflicts she owed a duty to disclose. Moreover, respondents claim (at 23) that Ms. Marston did in fact disclose the challenged relationship[s] ignores a critical qualification in her supposed disclosure: in her 1996 arbitrator application, Ms. Marston stated that her spouse was a professor at the Wharton School and that [i]n that capacity i.e., as a faculty member he has spoken to brokers, traders, and financial consultants from various investment banks and brokerage houses, and

12 8 Industry Groups. App. 11a. Ms. Marston failed to disclose that it was in his personal capacity as an independent consultant, not in his capacity as a university employee, that Dr. Marston has for years received substantial income from a host of financial-services firms, including J.P. Morgan, for speaking, consulting, and advisory activities. Respondents also endorse (at 23 n.11) Ms. Marston s self-serving claims that she was unaware of some of her conflicts of interest. But that would not permit upholding the arbitration award in the Ninth Circuit, which recognizes an arbitrator s duty to investigate potential conflicts. New Regency, 501 F.3d at 1109; see also Pet. 6-7 (discussing FINRA rules requiring arbitrators to investigate potential conflicts). Fourth, respondents emphasize (at 10, 13) that this Court has denied at least 11 petitions for certiorari in the last 15 years on the standard for determining evident partiality under the FAA. But that proves our point: the first question presented recurs with frequency, and the conflict has not resolved itself without this Court s intervention, but instead has only grown deeper. Moreover, the conflict concerns a standard that Congress intended to be nationally uniform, and the current disuniformity encourages parties to engage in forum-shopping. The time is ripe for this Court to grant review.

13 9 II. THE STANDARD FOR WAIVER OF AN EVIDENT PARTIALITY CHALLENGE WARRANTS THIS COURT S REVIEW A. The courts of appeals are likewise divided over whether a party waives the right to seek vacatur based on undisclosed arbitrator conflicts unless that party personally and fully investigates, discovers, and raises those conflicts during the arbitration. Pet Respondents say (at 29) only that the decision below comports with the weight of authority, implicitly acknowledging the existence of contrary decisions. Respondents argue (at 26) that we have mischaracterized the law of the Second and Fourth Circuits. But neither case they cite resolved a claim of waiver of an evident-partiality challenge. See Lucent Techs. Inc. v. Tatung Co., 379 F.3d 24, (2d Cir. 2004) (no waiver argument made or decided); Remmey v. PaineWebber, Inc., 32 F.3d 143, 148 (4th Cir. 1994) (discussing party s failure to raise an issue relating to undue means under FAA 10(a)(1), not evident partiality under FAA 10(a)(2)). Thus, the Second Circuit s pre- and post-lucent holdings in Morelite and Applied Industrial Materials Corp. v. Ovalar Makine Ticaret Ve Sanayi, A.S., 492 F.3d 132 (2d Cir. 2007), establish that circuit s law on waiver. It applies only where the party has actual knowledge of the facts that form the basis of the objection. Morelite, 748 F.2d at 84 n.5; see Applied Indus. Materials, 492 F.3d at 139 n.2. And the Fourth Circuit s post-remmey decision in ANR Coal Co. v. Cogentrix of North Carolina, Inc., 173 F.3d 493 (4th Cir. 1999), controls in that circuit. Under ANR, a party certainly has not waived its rights to object when it first learns of information after the award. Id. at 501 n.5.

14 10 Respondents also assert (at 26-27) that the Eleventh Circuit might have found waiver in this case. But that court held in Middlesex Mutual Insurance Co. v. Levine, 675 F.2d 1197 (11th Cir. 1982) (per curiam), that [w]aiver applies only where a party has acted with full knowledge of the facts. Id. at The Eleventh Circuit rejected the approach taken by the lower courts in this case, explaining that imposing on arbitrating parties a duty to inquire into the background of the arbitrator would improperly shift to the parties to the arbitration the burden of determining and disclosing bias or the reasonable appearance thereof. Id. Although respondents observe (at 27) that Middlesex is more than three decades old, they cite no decision overruling it and ignore the Eleventh Circuit s 2002 decision reaffirming that waiver applies only where a party has acted with full knowledge of the facts. University Commons-Urbana, Ltd. v. Universal Constructors Inc., 304 F.3d 1331, 1340 (11th Cir. 2002) (internal quotations omitted). B. In defending the lower courts waiver standard on the merits, respondents rely (at 27) largely on a policy of the FAA to treat arbitration awards as final and binding. But they ignore our point that an appeal to the virtues of finality is given little weight in interpreting a provision such as FAA 10, the whole purpose of which is to make an exception to [the] finality of arbitration awards. Gonzalez v. Crosby, 545 U.S. 524, 529 (2005). Respondents express concern (at 28) that evident-partiality challenges may require extended proceedings, including discovery, to resolve. But they ignore the most obvious and efficient solution to that problem: enforcing the arbitrators duty of disclosure. Arbitrators are the least-cost avoider of the problem of arbitration

15 11 awards tainted by undisclosed bias. Holtz v. J.J.B. Hilliard W.L. Lyons, Inc., 185 F.3d 732, 743 (7th Cir. 1999). 3 Respondents also argue (at 28) that petitioner is wrong to say that imposing a duty of investigation on arbitrating parties conflicts with Commonwealth Coatings. But the brief in this Court of the party defending the arbitration award in Commonwealth Coatings was replete with assertions that the award should be upheld because the challenging party failed to inquire about potential conflicts of interest. See, e.g., Resps. Br. 35, Commonwealth Coatings, supra (U.S. filed June 13, 1968) (No. 14) ( [I]t is incumbent upon an objecting party to make reasonable and prudent inquiry if the party is to be entitled to raise objections as to business relationships, and no such inquiry was ever made by Petitioner[.] ). In holding that vacatur was required, this Court focused on the requirement that arbitrators disclose to the parties any dealings that might create an impression of possible bias, without suggesting that an arbitrator s failure to disclose a non-trivial conflict of interest could be excused based on a party s lack of inves- 3 Respondents assert (at 26) that petitioner could have discovered Ms. Marston s conflicts with a few hours research on the Internet, but they elsewhere acknowledge (at 4) that petitioner s investigation of his three-member panel consumed approximately 20 hours. A comparable investigation of the 24 potential arbitrators FINRA originally proposed would have taken eight times as long. Moreover, it is far from clear that a simple Google search conducted at the time of arbitrator selection would have quickly revealed the connection between Arbitrator Marston and Dr. Marston. A Google search of the terms Marston and Penn restricted to results before September 30, 2008 (the day after FINRA appointed the panel, C.A. App. 464a) returns Dr. Marston as the first result, but none of the first 40 results relates to Ms. Marston. See

16 12 tigation. 393 U.S. at 149 (emphasis added). If the standard articulated by the courts below were the law, Commonwealth Coatings would have come out the other way. CONCLUSION The petition for a writ of certiorari should be granted. Respectfully submitted, EDWARD PEKAREK 216 East Dyke Street Wellsville, NY (585) April 29, 2014 DAVID C. FREDERICK BRENDAN J. CRIMMINS Counsel of Record KELLOGG, HUBER, HANSEN, TODD, EVANS & FIGEL, P.L.L.C M Street, N.W. Suite 400 Washington, D.C (202) (bcrimmins@khhte.com)

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